good morning. it is thursday, jan 3rd, 2013. welcome to "cbs this morning." today a new congress gets handed the same old problems, but can some fresh faces get anything done? >> it's a new beginning for sandy hook elementary students who are going back to class today. and for the first time in a long time the house does not win. what's happening in vegas? but we begin this morning with a look at today's "eye opener," your world in 90 seconds. we have a lot of questions. we're very nervous. we have a lot of anxiety right now as does everyone else. >> sandy hook elementary students go back to school.

>> their first time back to class since the massacre three weeks ago that claimed 26 lives. >> the newtown school refurbi refurbished. >> the students can complete the circle. that's what's missing right now. getting our students back. secretary of state hillary clinton waking up this morning at home after being treated at the hospital for a blood clot in her head. according to the state department, she should make a full recovery. the new congress will have a record 123 female senators. the white house has a plan. speak over the house john boehner says he'll schedule a vote tomorrow on aid for victims of superstorm sandy. >> 66 days and counting. shame on you. shame on congress. the dow saw the biggest point gain in a year, up 300 points.

starbucks will be reselling reusele plastic cups for a dollar. customers get a 10-cent discount every time they bring it back. touchdown. and the louisville cardinals with the biggest win in school history. >> you were friends with o.j. simpson. did you know he was going to be reliable? hello? and all that matters. >> ray lewis told his team he's retiring after these playoffs. >> i'll make this last run with my team and i'll give it everything i've gone. breaking news. kim kardashian is pregnant. >> kanye announcing they're pregnant. >> they're having a baby. >> i just hope the media doesn't make a big deal out of it. i hope it doesn't get blown way out of proportion. welcome to "cbs this morning." i'm norah o'donnell with anthony mason. charlie and gayle are off.

just two days after congress finally approved a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, we're getting a new group of lawmakers. the members of the 113th congress will be sworn in later today. >> 13 senators and 82 house members will be new. they will struggle with most of the same issues as the old congress from spending to gun control to immigration reform. and they face a nagging question. how much can they get done? nancy cordes is on capitol hill. nancy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, anthony and norah. well, i'll tell you. most lawmakers are only too happy to shut the door on the last two years. the 112th congress passed just 151 bills. that's fewer than any congress in the past 65 years. fewer than even the "do nothing" congress of 1948 that president harry truman ran against. >> we've turned ourselves into a laughingstock of the world. >> reporter: the 112th congress

was filled with plenty of in-fighting but not much legislation. >> but i need a dance partner. >> reporter: the gridlock left congress with an approval rating that dipped to 10% twice last year. that's lower than past approval ratings for the irs, lawyers, and paris hilton. slightly higher than fidel castro. no one's more frustrated with congress than the members themselves. >> they tell us that this is the least productive congress in the history of the nation. if it's not, i would hate to be in the one that was. >> i don't think it's the most glorious chapter in the history of the united states senate. >> reporter: arizona senator john mccain has served in congress for 31 years. why can't the house or senate get more done? >> i think we have a polarized electorate for one. and also i have to be candid with you, there's a certain lack of courage around here to take steps and positions and move

legislation that may offend certain constituency whether it be on the right or on the left. >> reporter: just ten years ago mccain belonged to a powerful coalition of moderate senators from the right and left who worked today but today they numbers have shrunk. democrats lose north dakota's kent conrad and nebraska's ben nelson, both retiring. and because the bill to avert the fiscal cliff did not address spending, the new congress will be fighting the exact same battle as the last one. maryland congressman chris van hollen is the top democrat on the house budget committee. >> the inalkt to get a house congressional agreement means we're going to be dealing with these budget issues in an on again off again for months to come. >> they're going to have to vote for some time in next couple of months to raise the debt

ceiling. and the truth, anthony and norah, the fiscal cliff was relatively simple to solve. if congress has trouble with that, how are they going to tackle more difficult issues they say they want to work on like immigration and tax reform? >> good question. thanks, nancy. president obama signed a bill into law after returning to vacation in hawaii with his family. chip reid is live in hawaii. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anthony. this is the president's second visit. he was here for christmas and rushed back to washington for the battle over the fiscal cliff. now he's back on vacation after what the white house believes was a major victory. that victory was crowned late last night when the president authorized the signing of the fiscal cliff deal. he didn't sign it with his own hand but used an auto pen back in washington. in a video to supporters, the president held the deal which raises tax hikes on high

incomes. >> we now raise the rates permanently, making it more aggressive than it's been in past decades. what we fought for in 2012 we've got to fight for just as hard in 2013. so when i take the oath of office this month i'll be as determined as ever and i'm glad i've got you by myside. >> reporter: with another battle up ahead, the president is spending over $3 million for his second round trip to hawaii. and that's only for on rating air force one. it doesn't include the dozens of personnel and the secret agents who guard his ocean-front compound. the president will be here three more days. he's getting a wreefing from national security and spending time with family and yesterday he man anded to find sick hours on the golf course. >> wow, six hours. one of the jobs is voting on

funding for superstorm sandy. elaine quijano is in trenton, new jersey, where the republican governor led that outrage. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, norah and anthony. house speaker boehner promises a vote tomorrow followed by another vote in less than two weeks on the remaining $51 million. it was a move forced in large part by governors of two very blue states. >> disaster relief was something that you didn't play games with, but now in this current game. it's why american people hates congress. >> cuomo echoed his counterparts. >> ask any family in linden

hurst, rockaways, and staten island if the delay bothers them and then step back after you ask the question. >> reporter: mayor michael bloomberg was more tempered in his reaction. cuomo and christy showed they could flex considerable political muscle and pressure republicans to hold a vote this friday. the empire and garden states vote democratic but the regions' vast well offers coffers of politics from both parties. >> in real term as what does this money mean. >> to be able to help small businesses on the shore and elsewhere on the shore up and running. huge difference. help people get back in their homes, huge difference. to know if we can replenish the beaches and rebuild the beaches. >> reporter: fema says the national flood insurance program will run out of the money next week. it's already paid out $1.7

billion in sandy-related claims. repairs to the path trains which link beeoth states and cost ove $700 billion may be put on hold. it took the federal government just ten days to get a relief package to the gulf coast. it has now been 67 days since sandy made landfall and people here in the northeast are still waiting. norah and anthony? >> elaine quijano, thank you. with us now is robert give, the former white house press secretary and senior adviser for the president's re-election campaign. robert, you heard that piece. 67 days since superstorm sandy hit and it seems the storm's victims are the latest casualty of the fiscal cliff fight. does the president bare any responsibility for a broken washington? >> well, look. i think what the president has

challenged members of both parties to do is make sure our politics fix the moment and the size of the problems that we have. certainly he has worked tirelessly to bring democrats and republicans together to try to solve some of these problems and i think you have seen and others have seen time after time it's hard to bring speaker boehner to the table. >> robert, there's an old phrase that someone wise always says. don't confuse effort with accomplishment. >> that's probably -- that should be the motto of washington. but, look. in this piece, we have averted tax rates going up on the middle class right now, which i think is a huge victory for the country. the question is, again, we have this mini -- government by mini crisis, and the question is how are we going to meet that moment in the next two months? how are we going to make sure that the peopeople who were hur and the businesses destroys and

houses damaged from hushlg sandy get the relief they need? it's time to put the politics away, come together and start to make real progress on behalf of the american people. >> we've been saying that for a long time and it doesn't seem like congress is able to do that. as you point out, there are three big battles ahead in the next two months. and the president effectively usedal u husband leverage in getting this passed. where does he go from here? >> first and foremost, i don't think nobody's going to miss it. when your approval rating is compared to fidel crass troe, that sort of indianas cothe confrontation. what is fair is we're going to judge the totality of this fiscal cliff deal base odd whan happens at the end of february. are we doing something that helps to continue tro strengthen

the economy as well as get our fiscal house in order. i think both sides have things that we need to do, the president would like to see more balance in our tax code. we'd like to all see redux in the spending that we see coming out of government. we know what we need to do. the question, again, can politics sit down at the tame and make general compromises to get things done? >> i'm hardened by the fact that we saw bought house and republicans put aside the chicanery and do something for the people. >> but the president has said he won't discuss with congress about raising the debt ceiling. what sort of eleven raj does he have to get some sort of grand bargain? >> we have to -- we shouldn't get into a debate about whether or not we're going to pay the bills we've already racked up as

he said. we know we have to pay for those bills. that's money that's already spent. so, look. let's go ahead and not default on the nation's bills because we understand that would be a calamity for our economy. but i think both sides didn't get things in this fiscal cliff deal that set the stage for the next one. there are things to do to continue to make the tax code fair. republicans would like to see some changes in the way we do some entitlen'ts, hopefully in a measured way so we don't end up doing more harm than good. but, look, i think we all understand the elements that have to be involved to grow our economy, to get some balance in our tax code, to get our fiscal house in order. again, if we could put aside some of the screaming and yelling. >> but it does set up as some call it the cascading clifrts now. isn't this a distraction the

president wanted to and now hurt himself after some of those? in other words immigration reform, tax reform, something on gun control? >> right. well, look, i think tax reform has to be a big part of all of these whatever fiscal cliffs or cascades what we'd like to call them. look. i think we understand this. we have a lot of things that we have to solve. let's take guns for instance. let's give some assurance as those children go back to sandy hook elementary school that military assault weapons aren't going to be on our streets anymore. that we're not going to give a gun that's used in afghanistan and 30 bullet to do terror. there has do been -- we fweesht to get our fiscal house in order and do stuff on guns and immigration. >> robert gibbs, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

>> thank you. for survivors of the newtown school massacre, today is the first day of school. students and teachers are moving about seven miles from the scene of last month's shooting to a renovated school in monroe, connecticut. we have our affiliate there this morning. >> reporter: newtown school superintendent janet robinson says they're hoping for a normal day. still this will be anything but normal for kids and their parents. welcome signs surround their school, snowflakes sent in from around the world hangs. a team of workers, many of thome volunteers, spent weeks transformed chock hill school into a cheerful place for them.

for survivors of the shooting and their parents, it's no surprise today comes with mixed emotions. >> we asked her if she's excited and she said, yes, she's excited but you can see the question in their eyes. they're a little nervous. they're nervous. >> comfort dogs will be on hand to haep ease the transition. farmlies have also been given tours of the new facility. >> the desks are there and the teacher teacher's tic-tacs are in the right spot. >> we're going to remain on location until further notice. >> reporter: sandy hook may have moved on but they're not forgeten. they say they'll keep the kids on a normal routine on their first day back to their new

school. matt mcfarland, cbs news, connecticut. margaret brennan is outside the clintons' hometown of chappaqua, north of new york city. margaret, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, norah. secretary clinton is home after three days in the hospital. her spokesperson says she's eager to get back to work. according to a statement released jeff last night, quote, her medical team has advised her that she's making good progress on all fronts and will make a full recoverry. smiles here. daughter chelsea posted this stamtd on twitter. thank you to the dock tors and staff for taking good care of my mom. it's not clear when secretary clinton will be able to return

to work as scheduled. we'll have updates in the meantime. secretary clinton remains committed to going to capitol hill to testify about that fate tall attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi but now it's a matter of scheduled with the new . >> announcer: this national weather report sponsored by the u.s. postal service. schedule your free package pickup today.

after the newtown school shooting there was a call for stricter gun calls and a jump in gun sale bus nobody predicted just how big those numbers would be. this morning john miller will show us why december was a perfect storm for gun sales. and las vegas bookmakers lofrt money on the nfl this year. what are the odds of that? we'll find out why betters had such a good year and what the

bookmakers are doing about it on "cbs this morning." >> announcer: this portion of "cbs this morning" sponsored by capella university. bright students are getting lost in the shuffle. and administration's work gets more complex every year. when you look at these issues, do you see problems or opportunities? with an advanced degree in education from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to meet these challenges and make a difference in the lives of students. let's get started at capella.edu. i made the clear choice. i'm getting claritin clear with claritin-d. nasal congestion keep me away ?

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when the new congress is sworn in today illinois senator mark kirk will be there. after a year of rehabilitation and recovery following a devastating stroke. this morning we'll show you how kirk learned how to walk and talk all over again and find out what he's looking forward to when he returns to the senate.

your local news is next.

and time to show you some of this morning ee headlines from around the globe. britain's guardian says murder charges have been brought against five suspects in the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman. she died of her injuries. the suspects may face the death penalty. >> "the washington post" reports an american drone strike killed a top taliban leader in pakistan. that taliban leader led attacks against u.s. forces in afghanistan but he had agreed to a truce with pakistan's military. "the new york times" says a

highway patrol officer is being sued for allegedly falsifying dozns of dui cases. she pulled over people who she claimed were driving drunk in order to boost her career. she was fired after being named trooper of the year. "usa today" says al jasszez is buying current tc. current tv was co-founded by former vice president al gore. every time there's a mass shooting in america the demand for guns skyrockets. new figures show after the newtown massacre in december, the fbi performed a record number of background checks for people wanting to buy firearms. former cia director john miller is with us this morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> we're seeing sales shoot up. december was a record, right? >> that's right. december is always a record.

what you have here is three elements that come together. black friday broke all records. that's the big sales day. on that one day alone 154 guns were sold in america. but it's the saturday before christmas that's always the big sale day. and, of course, the third element is the possible of new gun control laws. you bring those three things together and what you have is the perfect storm for gun sales. >> what kind of guns are people buying? >> the gun store owners i talked with said the guns that were flying off the shelves and they couldn't keep in stock was the ar-15 rifle. this is the very weapon used in the newtown school massacre, the same weapon used in the movie theater massacre in aurora, the same weapon that was used in the shooting at the mall in oregon just a few days before newtown. it's the weapon chosen by the washington sniper. it's the civilian model of what

the military use in afghanistan or police s.w.a.t. teams in america. >> we should point out in december there were 2.7 million gun sales and that's up from eight months ago and that was a record. >> right. we're talking millions of background checks. remember, anthony, a small member of those people may be reject bud another percentage are buying multiple weapon on that one back ground check. >> let me ask you this. if congress were to reinstitute the ban on assault rifles, would it ban this ar-15? >> also unlikely. it might ban the weapon. if it decide thad weapon was an assault weapon, which it didn't exactly do the last time, what people have done is stock up. what we saw with the last weapons ban is the gun manufacturers used that time and they discussed it for a year before they passed it to really crank out -- to flood the market

with those weapons and the gun buyers saw that and bought those up as well as the high-capacity magazines also outlawed. what we're seeing is history repeating itself. they're arming up. >> all right. john miller, thank you. and when the 113th congress convenes today, it will be an especially emotional and remarkable return to capitol hill for one lawmaker. you may remember one republican senator mark kirk of illinois suffered a mass ichb stroke last year. our jay levine is on capitol hill where he spoke with the senator. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, norah. hi, anthony. very little happening on capitol hill as you know can be considered inspirational as you know. the last few weeks have been spard by in-fighting and that's what makes the story of senator

mark kirk uplifting. >> reporter: he's used to a grueling schedule and challenging workload. >> mr. president i'd like to take this time to talk on the pending legislation. >> reporter: but just a year ago kirk faced his most grueling one yet. he checked himself into the hospital after feeling dizzy. he suffer add stroke. >> it will affect his ability to use his left arm, possibly left leg. with this left side of his body largely immobile, recovery will be difficult. he spent eight hour as day in unrelenting therapy learned how to walk and talk. within months the senator had made remarkable progress, even posting updates to his constituents on the website. >> i'm walking again leading to the hope that i can walk the 45 steps from the steps that my staff counted from the parking

lot to the front door. >> reporter: it will be the high point of his rehabilitation. >> thanking back to walking on that treadmill and from then to now, did you think this day, walking the steps would be possible? >> i honestly had doubts and at times, you know, because i was improving so rapidly, i thought about this day a lot and knew i could nail it. >> reporter: for senator mark kirk walking those steps will mark the end of his year-long time away from congress but only the beginning. >> the big moment will be when i get to see senator tim johnson who suffered from stroke here. and i can't wait to bond with him so that hopefully we can be advocates for americans who have survived stroke. >> reporter: i've about known mark kirk for many, many years, ever since he was an aide to a

local congressman. is he all the way back to where he was a year ago? not really. would i venture against him getting there, anthony and norah? >> no way. >> thanks. jay, he's made incredible progress. it's an amazing story and really powerful. >> it is. you talk to him and see him and see the old mark kirk, you see that spark, you see the desire to reach across the party line. he could be the guy, the catalyst for getting something done here. >> i know from walking those stairs myself it's a steam climb for anybody. so good luck to the senator. we wish him recovery. since the days of washington, president and first lady have shared the spotlight. this morning we'll look at the fascination with the pop sicker married to kim jong-un.

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so here now a new segment is called "the next crisis in washington." ♪ >> reporter: as of 3:00 p.m. today the senate cafeteria reached the nap tin cliff. this has been "the next crisis washington." >> you know what's good? it's a manufactured crisis which is what the fiscal cliff was. >> it's funny because it could be true. >> not only the french fry crisis on capitol hill. north korean leader kim jong-un made headlines for a speech calling for better relations with south korea even

though the two countries are technically at war. as ben tracy reports his wife is the true headliner inside north korea. >> reporter: north korea's state-run television just released this video of kim jong-un attending a new year's event with his wife. they're seen with diplomats and later attending a concert where one of the favorite bands performed. it would be a pedestrian appearance in america but it's rare in north korea where the leader has always been a one-man show. >> both the father and grandfather were the head of state and you never saw the wives. that's why kim jong-un is so interesting because his wife is all over the place. >> reporter: his wife was thought to be the former lead singer of band. she's made waves by ditching north korea's bland h style work

clothes opting for designer pant suits, dresses, and chanel bags. >> even a couple of years ago it was considered western krumgts to have chanel or this type of designer clothing. now it's being flaunted by the first lady so they're clearly moving in the first nation. >> reporter: there's also been controversy. his wife was summoned away. rumors say she was pregnant or she followed the old guard. some noticed she was wearing broaches instead of the lapel pin featuring the north korea's founder but it was all speculation because the regime is notoriously secret. >> we don't know how old she is and we don't know how old he is. we guess she was born between 1985 and 1988. up until two years ago we didn't even have a photograph of kim jong-un. so we don't know that much of

what is going on. >> reporter: we know on new year's they all appeared to be all smiles at least by betting on pro football is nothing new in vai bass but they're fumbling this season, losing big money. we'll see how they got into this mess on "cbs this morning." a great clean doesn't have to take long.

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but the secret is out for big casino sports books. the nfl betting season was anything but a winner. >> players in net won more against the sports books than any year in memory. >> reporter: r.j. bell is the owner of a website. they make money on commissions. this year some fan favorites beat the odds and the house. >> if you look at the top two teams in the afc, the top two teams in the nfc, those four teams covered 60% of the time this year. these are the teams that people bet the most and these are the teams that's won for the player. >> reporter: so why is this big news? because over $100 billion were wagered on nfl games worldwide this year. in november, week nine of the

nfl season, book dealers took a booth. they report lid lost so much money that it had to tap into emergency funds to konk its losses. bell says the odds may be stacked against them but the gap is closing fast. >> the internet has changed everything. here in 2012, the average better, even the one who loses most of the time in the long run, is so much smarter, sharper than the better of ten years ago. >> reporter: and in last night's sugar bowl, louisville's upset over florida didn't do the sports books any favors. >> in terms of las vegas it's -- >> reporter: for "cbs this morning" i'm terrell brown. >> did you lose any money on the football games? >> i don't bet. >> you don't bet? >> ever. >> ever? >> ever. >> that's a wise strategy.

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(woman) 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime-- that's definitely a fair trade. it was such a beautiful experience. (jessica lee) ♪ and it's beautiful (woman) why walk 60 miles in the boldest breast cancer event in history? because your efforts help komen serve millions of women and men facing breast cancer every year. visit the3day.org to register or to request more information and receive a free 3-day bracelet today. it was 3 days of pure joy. ♪ and it's beautiful

good morning. it is 8:00 a.m. welcome back to "cbs this morning." with the fiscal cliff out of the way for now, president obama is back on vacation in hawaii. we'll go to honolulu to see what the first family is doing. and we'll look back at the long career of patti page, one of hollywood's most memorable voices. but first here's a look at today's "eye opener" at 8:00. most lawmakers are only too happy to shut the door on the last two years. to days after congress finally approved a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, we're getting a new group of lawmakers. why can't the house or the senate get more done? >> i have to be candid with you.

there's a certain lack of courage around here. it's time to put a lot of the politics away, come together, and start to make some real progress on behalf of the american people. >> we've been saying that for a long time, though, and it doesn't seem like congress is able to do it. one of the first jobs for the new congress is voting for funding for victims of superstorm sandy it's been 67 days since sandy made landfall and people in the northeast are still waiting. >> for survivors of the newtown massacre, today is the first day of school since 20 students and six staff members were kill. >> reporter: they're hoping for a normal day. still this feels like anything but normal. every time there's a mass shooting in america there's a demand for guns. >> history is repeating itself here. people are worrying there might be a ban. las vegas book makers lost money on the nfl this year. what are the odds of that. >> the average better is so much smarter and sharner than ten years ago. police report, fewer drunk

driving arrests this new year's eve. arrests were down. you know why? congress is stuck in session. i'm nor reah o'donnell with anthony mason. charlie and gayle are off. president obama is picking up his vacation after he left to sign the fiscal cliff deal. chip reid is traveling with the president in honolulu. chip, good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, norah. this is the president's second trip to hawaii this holiday season. he was here for christmas and then rushed back to washington for that battle over the fiscal cliff. now he's back here for three more days of vacation. the president praised the fiscal cliff deal in a video to his supporters yesterday and last night he signed authorization papers for the deal here in hawaii. but the actual bill was signed back in washington with an auto pen.

he's spending most of his time here with family and friends on his oceanfront compound which is guards, of course, buy secret service agents. yesterday he found time for six hours on the golf course and if history is any guide, he'll be doing plenty more of that before he returns to washington later this weekend. >> all right, chip, thank you. republicans and congress have taken a beating this week between the fiscal cliff drama and a decision to put off the vote on superstorm sandy relief. let's talk about with frank luntz of cbs and politico. good morning. >> it's been a tough week. i was with a number of members last night, and while the wounds have begun to heal, the american people are very frustrated with congress right now. they're frustrated with washington. they do what senator john mccain has said. they want them to get along, get stuff done and they're hoping that starting today with new congress they'll be different. >> frank, i didn't get a

question in there. you took it and went. i didn't have to say a thing. you just started talking. i want to ask you about the state of the republican party. you heard governor christie excoriate the house republicans yesterday. he said it's disappointing, disgusting. he said he tried to call speaker boehner four times, didn't get his call returned until the next day. what does it do for your the party? >> it's a challenge. speaker boehner was trying to deal with these issues of national importance and getting a phone call from a governor, you've got to get stuff done first and then you can do things step by step. part of the issue with what's happening in washington now is that if focus has been on tax increases rather than spending cuts. 70% of americans did want to see the taxes go up on the richest americans, but 80% of americans want to see washington stop some of its spending.

and this so-called fiscal cliff did not do anything when it comes to spending. and i think where the gop has made a mistake is they've allowed this to be about taxes rather than the various programs that the american people would like to see reduced in some way. >> back to norah's point, you had them going one way, the other way. there seems to be a split inside the party. >> and you hear it in the grassroots. you hear it all across the country that the republican party historically has been against raising taxes, but viewers should know that 98.5% of americans are going to get a permanent tax cut and that even grover nor quest, the leader in the anti-tax movement has said this isn't a tax increase. you're correct. there are skis. s within the gop that did not exist before. that's what the new congress does. if a focus turns from tax policy

to spending i think you'll find republicans will unite. >> but i think part of the criticism as you know, frank, is that here is a republican party that agreed to tax cuts, but got no spending cuts and no entitlement reform out of this president, that it wasn't a great deal after all. >> and that's -- and the american people would agree with that. norah, you're correct. so they're going to come back at this with the debt ceiling and with the budget over the next two and three months and it's going to be up to the president to prove, to demonstrate to the american people that he is serious that this deficit cannot be solved just by tax increases. that in the end you have to get entitlement programs under control and get in on the future. you can't spend -- and this is what the gop has said. you can't spend on everything at every moment all the time, that you have to set priorities. so if you're going to spend more on sandy, then you have to find an offset that you spend less.

>> but, frank, going forward here, if you're talking about a schism within the republican party and you're talking about a speaker who votes with a minority of his party on a major deal, i mean what kind of bargaining position is the party going to be in going forward here if they can't unite around anything? >> but you've illustrated the whole problem and you've got to give president obama credit, that he put the gop in this situation. look, if the vote had gone in the other direction and they voted down this compromise, then i'd be on this show this morning and you'd all be criticizing the republicans for undermining the economy, for killing the stock market. in the end this was a no-win situation and in politics, you can survive this once or twice before your own voters start to turn against you. so i don't disagree with anything the two of you have asked about. you've got to wonder, will the republicans learn and will they change the focus over the next eight weeks from taxes to

spending because when they're talking about spending, they're on the side of the majority of the -- >> frank luntz. thanks so much for being with us. today is a new morning for the students of sandy hook elementary school. they're returning to class in a new school in a newtown. students' desks, backpacks and other blorngings have been moved. security will be tight and counselors will be on hand to try to ease the transition. itz's be p nooerm three weeks since the shooting rampage that killed 20 sandy hook students and six staffers. >> starbucks is trying something to help the environment. they'll begin selling reusable cups for $1. they hope it gets people to to reuse them. they'll be cleaned with boiling

water each time they get refilled. and you'll get 10 cents. the iowa cornfield where "field of dreams" haas been sold and the buyers say it will be used again for baseball. in the movie a farmer hears voices, chops down his corn crop and building a baseball field for a team of disgraced leaguers. the area had been on the market for two years. it sold for nearly $3.5 million. the group who bought it plans to build a youth basketball compound. >> that's good news. you like this story. i haven't even said it and you like it. a field of screams. a new poll by 60 minutes of "vanity fair" asked what about living together drives you most crazy. shaving a bathroom.

two, doing more colors and the number one thing that drives you crazy is your partner's tv choices. >> did yours match up with that list? >> i guess so. >> the bathroom one is big on mine. >> yeah, always good to have two rooms with two different tvs and separate remotes, right? keeps a happy marriage. most couples come together

it is only january 3rd and how many resolutions have you broke already? the author of a new book on willpower says we can only keep one resolution at a time. we'll talk about the science of self-control. that's ahead. i love this song. it's an oldie but a goody. laura bran i began. oh, my god. welcome back to the '80s, everybody. sneezing, , aches, fevers. and i relieve nasal congestion. overachiever. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. hmm, we need a new game. ♪

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and finally on monday night thieves broke into the apple store in paris and stole $1 million worth of iphones and ipads. that's right. they took four iphones and two ipads. >> they were having a sale at walmart on iphones. i was stunned. >> i know. you want one, right? >> yeah. no. my son wants one. we're working on that. >> patti page's voice defined the pop music era just before the rock 'n' roll. we'll remember the singer who had a string of number one songs in the 1950s and was just about to be honored by the grammys. ahead on "cbs this morning." >> i remember that song very well. but right now holly phillips has a suggestion for the new year. take a hike. good morning. today on healthwatch, nature nur trs creativity.

disconnecting from our digital devices seems to be more difficult every day but now there's one more reason to take a vacation in the great outdoors. a new study finds spending time with nature improves your mind. it increases problem-solving ability and creativity by 50%. researchers looked aet 56 people with the average age of 28 and splut them into two groups. half took the test before the trip and half took it after. those who took it before scored around 4 and those on the fourth day around f. the second group was also more creative and better at problem-solving. they don't know if it was due to more nature, less technology or both but that sitting in front of the computer has likely cogmyive costs and going for a hike and may reverse them. and it may be more crucial now than every. research shows young people

spend less hour as day playing outside and more time using cell phones, tvs, and computers some of the next time you're agonizing over your computer screen, consider stepping outside instead and let nature nurture your mind. i'm dr. if holy fip lisp. >> announcer: cbs "healthwatch" brach toed you by hart health. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story.

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♪ i was dancing with my darling to the tennessee waltz ♪ patti page was a star before the rock 'n' roll erand a even sell vis presley couldn't knock her off the charts. she died on new year's day after performing for seven decades and selling more than 7 million records. ♪ how much is that doggy in the window ♪ >> patti page was a pop ian when pop songs sounded like this. ♪ i remember the night

>> beginning in 1948 the woman they called the singing rage scored at least one top 20 hit for 11 straight years including her biggest single "the tennessee waltz." ♪ yes i lost my little darling >> which stayed at number one for nine weeks in 1950 and '51. ♪ the beautiful tennessee waltz ♪ >> it's one thing to have hits and patti page had plenty of those. it's another thing for your voice to be a defining voice of the era. >> her popularity took her to television where she had broadcasts on all three networks and in 1960s page tried her hand on the big screen appearing in three feature films including opposite burt lancaster. >> when did you stop serving god? >> about two years ago. >> reporter: but it's her voice

that she'll be most remembered. ♪ winding roads that seem to beckon you ♪ >> she was somebody who really took the emotion of a song and gave it to the listeners, and listeners and fans really responded to that. born clara ann fowler in oklahoma, page was one of 11 children growing up in a poor family. she won her first grammy in 1999 when she was 71. she'll get her second lifetime achievement award posthumously. patti page was 85. ♪ i do hope that doggy's for sale ♪ >> you missed the best part of this story which was getting to hear norah sing that song in studio. ♪ how much is that

>> just a tease. it's a season for resolutions and john tierney will

(woman) 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime-- that's definitely a fair trade. whoo! you walk with friends, you meet new friends, and you keep those friendships. it was such a beautiful experience. (jessica lee) ♪ and it's beautiful ♪ undeniable (woman) why walk 60 miles in the boldest breast cancer event in history? because everyone deserves a lifetime. visit the3day.org to register or to request more information and receive a free 3-day bracelet today. ♪ building up from deep inside it was 3 days of pure joy. susan g. komen's investments in early detection and treatment have helped reduce breast cancer mortality in the u.s. by 33% since 1990. help us continue serving the millions of women and men with breast cancer who still need us every day. register for the 3-day now. (woman) it's just been an amazing, amazing journey. i love these people.

♪ and it's beautiful

police in this video show a former candidate for congress puncturing the tires of his one-time poechblt gary smith was arrested on felony charges for stalking jones. he was free on bond when he allegedly showed up at her house this week. welcome back to "cbs this morning." we start every new year with the best of intentions. the weight watchers' ceo told us it's overrated. >> we're told you can work on it and it's in his new book. good morning. john, this is great book and you detail through here just about

how important self-control or willpower and intelligence are in terms of success. what is willpower? >> willpower is what enables you to -- it's this mental energy that enables you to expert self-control, risk temptation and follow through on new year's resolutions. it gets depleted by lots of things you do all day long. >> why is self-control so important in success? >> well, you know, people say self-control, they're happier in life, they do better at life, at work, their relationships are better. you know, when psychologists look at the two things that predict success they keep finding it's i.q. and self-control. and there's not much you can do about i.q., but self-control you can. >> you talk about it being finite and decision fatigue. how does that affect willpower. >> it's a source of energy you use and you use it when you make decisions. so when you resist a temptation

or decide whether to do something north, it's drawing on that same source of energy and it gets depleted when do you it. president obama heard about the research in this book and he tried to cut down the number of decisions he makes. he wears a dark suit every day so he doesn't have to decide what kind of suit do i wear. he's saving his power for more important things. >> he doesn't have to decide whether he flies southwest or american airlines which kind of helps when you're the president. he just flies air force one, which is not a bad one. even in this book, you talk about whether it's president bill clinton, eliot spitzer, very powerful men who because of making so many decisions may have given in to a lack of se - self-control, right? >> yeah. you're depleted at the end of the day and then you think, you know, tweet a picture of myself in my underwear, why not, what could go wrong. >> what's interesting is that willpower is fueled by glucose,

right? >> yes. >> how does that work? >> they found that when someone experts self-control it depletes their willpower but it then replenishes it and you've got more self-control again. we're not advocating grow out and drink a lot of sugar-filled drinks. they do that in the lab because it's a real fast way to do it. it comes from all the foods you eat. that's why dieters have had such a hard time because in order not to eat you need willpower but in order to have willpower you need to eat. >> we should point out, too, this is not just your ideas. you co-wrote this book with roy baummeister. so there's a lot of studies. one of the studies is the marshmallow study which i love and has something to do with kids. >> they showed kids marshmallows. you can eat this if you want but

if you wait till i come back, i'll give you two. they discovered accidentally that the kids who had done really well at resisting, they did better in school, had higher sachlt scores better relationship, they just did better in all kinds of ways. >> kids are amazing. >> the only people like myself, i'm going to do it on my own kids to determine their future success. how long do they have to wait for the second marshmallow? >> 15 minutes. >> that's impossible for a 4-year-old. oh, my gosh. >> what are some of the tricks we can use to improve our willpower. >> one of the things you can do is conserve your willpower. they set up their lives so they're not using their willpower. they don't bring stuck home into their freezer, they have to make appointments at the gym. they outsource self-control to their friends and rely on that.

so con serving willpower, building up that and setting realistic goals, simple goals you can achieve and don't make more than one new year's resolution. one at a time. you should use it for one thing. >> keep it simple. john tierney, thank you. "willpower" is on sale now. when combat veterans return home it's big and it can carry over to the bedroom. we'll look

(woman) 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime--

that's definitely a fair trade. it was such a beautiful experience. (jessica lee) ♪ and it's beautiful (woman) why walk 60 miles in the boldest breast cancer event in history? because your efforts help komen serve millions of women and men facing breast cancer every year. visit the3day.org to register or to request more information and receive a free 3-day bracelet today. it was 3 days of pure joy. ♪ and it's beautiful anybody catch president obama on "meet the press" the other day? dabd gregory asked him if the fiscal deal was his lincoln moment and obama said, no, he never compares himself to lincoln. here, you take a listen. >> people have been asking me a lot about the film "lincoln." >> is this your "lincoln"

moment? >> no. a, i never come pare myself to lincoln and, b -- and the new congress being sworn in today is likely to take a clois look at a growing issue forthe military and that is the number of troops who are committing suicide. many of those deaths are committed to another problem for returning veterans and that is breakdown between marriage and intimacy between them and their partners. lee woodruff has one military couple's very personal story. >> quite frankly when you get off the battlefield and come home you want to have sex and a lot of it. >> reporter: mark waddell had a physical desire like any man returning from war but for this elite and accomplished navy sael it has upended the bonds at home. i felt much nr comfortable in the combat zone than i did being with my family back in the states. >> reporter: marring for more than 20 years go his high school

sweetheart mar shell, it had come to a breaking point. on the surface their family of five looked picture perfect. >> do you remember when you first saw one another? >> we were at summer camp in prescott, arizona, and he had on red swim trunks and i thought, i need to meet this guy. >> i had seen her well in advance, well before the red trunks. >> reporter: mark worked his way up to operations director for all east coast s.e.a.l. teams. there were years of coy vert missions. he lost dozens of teammates an came home with multiple injuries, trauma that slowly chipped away at the heart of his marriage. >> reporter: what were the symptoms of that, mark? >> very short-fused temper, very short-fused. i had no tolerance for anything seemingly insubordinate or meaningless. >> it was chaotic and unpredictable. >> reporter: it took years for

marshelle and mark to understand he was suffered from post-traumatic stress and brain injuries. both can impact intimacy. >> once you understand what's going on with your spouse and you become a caregiver to different degrees, sex isn't great with someone that you're responsible for. it seems incestuous. >> the reality of it is when you come back, a lot of times because of some of the medications, some of the psychological effects, some of the physiological lingerings from the battlefield can create times when that is just not possible. >> this is the elephant in the room. >> reporter: marilyn lash counsels the wives of husbands with brain injuries. >> demanding sex, cop standly,

repeat lid during the day. this is what we call frontal lobe injury. the other thing we see is loss of intimacy. that's tied into loss ofly bee dough but also depression. >> reporter: long-term effects can reach beyond just sex. half of troops who committed suicide had a failed relationship. >> i department waidn't want tog because i was seeing buries cyi bodies copping back. i thought with the injuries i had sustained i had no reason to complain or raise my hand and say there's something wrong here. >> reporter: mark and marshelle eventually sought coming. eight years later they're still together. >> reporter: what en you look a each other what do you see? do you see that little boy in

prescott with the red swim trunks? >> sometimes. that's what gives me hope. >> yeah. >> i don't see that very often. sigh e that sadness that's just below the surface. >> i think that whatever that was in that past relationship has found a new beginning and we've taken that which was salvageable, and it's kind of getting to date a new girl again. >> boy. i give them a lot of credit for talking about this. this is an incredible long road back and it's obviously they're still working but it's really -- it's really tough. >> we're focused sometimes so much on the physical injuries of war and amputees and not for the psychological injuries and it is true that many military families are focused this as there's now more than one suicide per day and there's a lot of new tension that needs to be focused that and lee woodruff did a fabulous job of bring this couple's story

to survive. >> you can see by the wife's face how difficult this is to go through. speaking of navy s.e.a.l.s which mark was working with when he was in the military, we have another story. >> chris pratt is a busy actor and we'll talk about his job from "moneyball" to "parks & recreation" when "cbs this morning" continues.

this small twin engine plane

caught fire after skidding off the run way at a north las vegas airport on wednesday. a plume of smoke could be seen for miles. everyone on board escaped safely. incredible pictures there. welcome back to "cbs this morning." in the controversial new mirror zero dark 30 chris pratt plays a navy s.e.a.l. sent to find osama bin laden. patrick, be honest with me. do you really believe this story? >> no offense, no offense, i know, but osama bin laden? >> yeah. >> i wanted you to hear it fefrt. you know that thing we talked about? it's going to happen. >> when? >> tonight. >> good luck. >> it's a long way from his

loveable and goofy character andy dwyer on "parks & recreation." >> you were check out our beautiful set. >> yeah, i like it. >> congratulations on the movie. >> yeah, yeah. it's a good one. very intense. >> you actually went through some training to play the part of the navy s.e.a.l. >> yeah, yeah. yeah. it -- you know, these guys are in incredible shape and really fit and they're just -- they're true warriors, and so we got a tiny taste of what they go through but it was nothing what the real s.e.a.l.s go through. >> what kind of training did you have to do? >> we had to do a long ocean swim in incredibly cold water with no rescue suit and took a shot at their obstacle course. >> how did you do? >> oh, man. they were like, god, are you sure you want to be on

"parks & rec" because we need more navy s.e.a.l.s. no, no. terribly -- i was slow. >> you talked about "moneyball" and you were talking about getting into shape for that. you did hip-hop abs. >> yes. hip-hop abs is very difficult. >> not as difficult as s.e.a.l.s training. >> take us sort of behind the scenes. as you were preparing for this role, what surprised you about the raid? what did you learn that you didn't know before? >> i think -- you know, so much of the raid and mission was classified, so to find out some of the elements -- u don't want to spoil it. it didn't go as well as we think. we know that osama bin laden was killed in the raid so that to us equals a successful raid but it didn't go off without a hitch.

and, you know, despite the fact that we know what happens at the end of this movie, it's really interesting to see how it happened. and how it happened really surprised me. >> you talked about it being intense. that wasn't the most intense. it's very dark, hard to watch. it's clear in watching it you're trying to figure out what's going on. you shot this in jord p. >> yeah, yeah. >> what was that experience like? >> it was -- it was pretty incredible. you know, i was really surprised to see they named a country after a great basketball star. i don't know the nba was big in the region, but -- no. it was insap. it was insane. and, you know, as a kid, i grew up playing army in the woods and this was really very fun. and i got to hang out with 20 or so dudes. there was a lot of -- a lot of

hard work but also a lot of camaraderie and drinking and fist-fighting and something every actor dreams of doing. >> you're actually from a military family, right? >> well, there are many members of my family that have been in the military. i wouldn't necessarily call us a military family, but my brother was in the army and i've got a lot of cousins and nephews that serve. >> after playing in this role did you gain greater respect of what the navy s.e.a.l.s and others in the military had to go through to carry out this raid? >> absolutely. that's the thing. not only just this raid but what happens on a day-to-day basis, the sacrifices that men and women make around the world. and as many jokes as i make, the one thing that i wanted to make sure is i didn't do anything to imbears the men and women of the armed forces. i support the troops. i think about them a lot. they sacrifice so much for us. and the s.e.a.l. team sacrificed

so much. and they do it without wanting movies like this to be made. they don't do it because there are going to be movies made about it. they do it because they have to do it. i forgot the question but i appreciate those in the military. >> there's been some criticism in the film because it begins with some fairly intense torture scenes which you weren't involved in. kathryn bigelow when she was on here said she felt those had to be portrayed. how did you feel about that? >> well, yeah. this is a film based on first-person accounts of what happened. and that's -- yeah, that element has definitely stirred up some controversy. i think i'd have to sigh the movie three or for manpower teams three or four times and that's what i recommend every american do, see it three or four times. >> a salesman. let me explain how you were 19 years old, homeless living in a

van and look where you are. >> now i'm here with you guys. >> chris pratt. thank you. "zero dark thirty" is in some theaters and opens across the country next friday. that does it for us. up next, your local news. we'll see you tomorrow here on "cbs this morning." ♪

♪ i'm halfway to your heart ♪ you have to let me know ♪ so i don't make my worst mistake ♪ ♪ turn around and let you go

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(woman) 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime-- that's definitely a fair trade. it was such a beautiful experience. (jessica lee) ♪ and it's beautiful (woman) why walk 60 miles in the boldest breast cancer event in history? because your efforts help komen serve millions of women and men facing breast cancer every year. visit the3day.org to register or to request more information and receive a free 3-day bracelet today. it was 3 days of pure joy. ♪ and it's beautiful